Bids awarded for Coon Rapids collector street projects

Contracts have been awarded by the Coon Rapids City Council for two projects to reconstruct some 4.2 miles of collector streets in the city this year.

The council has approved low bids from North Valley Paving for both projects.

At the same time, the council approved project assessments to benefiting property owners.

North Valley’s bid for a project totaling 2.2 miles in the west central part of Coon Rapids involving three collector streets in the area of Northdale Boulevard, west of Crooked Lake Boulevard, was $1,308,236.84, which was 5 percent under the engineer’s estimate of $1,378,733.00.

The streets to be reconstructed under this contract are 119th Avenue, from Blackfoot Street to Jonquil Street; Northdale Boulevard, west of Crooked Lake Boulevard to 124th Avenue; and 124th Avenue, west of Northdale Boulevard.

The bulk of the cost will be paid for from city state aid dollars, derived from the city’s annual allocation of state gas tax revenues, with only $105,911.90 to be assessed to benefiting properties.

The low bid from North Valley for the second project to upgrade five collector streets located in the south central part of the city totaling two miles was $1,177,788.84, some 2 percent below the estimate of $1,197,470.

These streets are Hanson Boulevard, south of Mississippi Boulevard; 99th Avenue, east of Hanson Boulevard; Egret Boulevard, north of 99th Avenue; 99th Avenue, west of Foley Boulevard; and Springbrook Drive, south of Holly Street.

Of the total cost of this project, $159,601.14 will be assessed to benefiting properties, the balance coming from city state aid dollars.

According to City Engineer Doug Vierzba, one of the streets to be reconstructed in this project, Egret, north of 99th Avenue to the frontage road, is the entrance to the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park.

“No road work will be allowed on weekends or holidays when the park is heavily used,” Vierzba said.

And the road will remain open to traffic while construction is taking place, he said.

Construction on both projects will start in early May and be completed in September, Vierzba said.

There will also be significant traffic impacts when Northdale Boulevard is reconstructed because of the need for vehicles to get to and from the Riverdale Commuter Rail station as well as in and out of two dead-end residential streets off Northdale, according to Vierzba.

Northdale will remain open during construction, but residents of the area and other motorists are urged to use other routes like Crooked Lake Boulevard and 123th Avenue, Vierzba said.

The Springbrook Drive work will impact people using the Allina Medical Center and while the road will stay open, there will likely be lane closures and lane shifts, he said.

“North Valley, Inc. has done a good job on several previous projects with the city,” he said.

In both projects, single-family homes benefiting from the work are being assessed $1,575 per lot with apartment properties assessed at $19.69 a front foot and commercial properties at $39.38 a front foot, according to Vierzba.

Assessments are for a 10-year period beginning in 2013 at an interest rate of 3.1 percent, Vierzba said.

Overall, the city has 42 miles of collector streets to maintain, he said.